You occasionally hear stories of standout players from a lower level who have been attracting attention from one of the elite clubs in world football, but it does sound like Barcelona scouts have recently been to watch Walsall.
According to the Mirror it’s Brighton loanee Carl Rushworth who was the focus of their attention, while it even sounds like they also watched him last season when he was on loan with Worthing.
While it does sound unlikely, he is an England youth international who’s contracted to a Premier League so it does start to make sense, while he’s been impressive again this year and it’s claimed that he saved his fourth penalty of the season recently so that’s the kind of stat that will stand out.
It’s suggested his Brighton contract runs until 2023 so a fee would be needed to make any transfer possible, and this does appear to be a case of Barca keeping tabs on a player they like rather than anything being lined up for now.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like any other players in the game between Walsall and Newport County impressed enough to warrant a second look from Barca, but Rushworth is one to keep an eye on in the future for sure.